NPS 2008, MadisonTotal # of teams: tbd(Needs to be divisible by number of venues and by 4 (teams per bout) Total number of teams should also be divisible by three (number of prelim nights) (For five venues 60, or for 6 venues 72, or for 7 venues 84) Other numbers can also work, just not as easily. (For example, if we go with three bouts a night, a long night, we could make 5 venues work for up to 90 teams.)4x4 structureNo repeat rule all weekDays = 5Prelims: x venues, 2 bouts per night, 4x4 Semis: 4 venues, 5x4, 5 teams per bout (20 teams total in semis)Finals: 4x4, 4 teams in finals, 4 slots

Yahfu, no, everyone will still perform two nights but each team will also have a night "off." Your team might have performances on Tuesday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. That is to accommodate the much larger field of teams than in the past.

The answer is yes. For the 4x4 format, teams can bring 4 or 5 poets. I don't know if this means you can have 5 poets in a group piece. Can anyone answer that?

Jesster, if I understand correctly you can still do a 5 person group piece, you just have to comply with the rules of primary authorship. So for example, if that 5-person group piece has two primary authors the remaining 3 poets will have to reappear as the primary author of another piece that you throw up in that bout.

The answer is yes. For the 4x4 format, teams can bring 4 or 5 poets. I don't know if this means you can have 5 poets in a group piece. Can anyone answer that?

Jesster, if I understand correctly you can still do a 5 person group piece, you just have to comply with the rules of primary authorship. So for example, if that 5-person group piece has two primary authors the remaining 3 poets will have to reappear as the primary author of another piece that you throw up in that bout.

I think that is how it works...

Ah, so I would have to assume you can't have a 5 person group piece with one primary author?

Well, I'll leave it to Erik Daniel to explain the finer lines of the rule, but you CAN have a 5 voice piece with one primary author as long as all voices are represented as primary authors somewhere else in the bout.

Yahfu, no, everyone will still perform two nights but each team will also have a night "off." Your team might have performances on Tuesday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. That is to accommodate the much larger field of teams than in the past.

So "no repeat all week" means a poet would need, at bare minimum, 4 poems, yes? 1 for each prelim, 1 for semis, 1 for finals?

And is there an Indie Finals? No repeat for that either?

Thanks.

The rule of thumb I use is that each poet should have at least the arsenal enough to make it the whole way through---and by that, I mean as if each poet had to do all four rounds each night, which this year means 16 poems.I leave exceptions for rookies or major life events throwing a wrench in that plan.This is Nationals!Plan on winning! Map it that way.Map it a few different ways.It helps to categorize the poems of your poets like a set list, by theme, by group, and where they would go in each round of each bout under every circumstance of your draw (A,B,C,D)I leave exceptions for myself as a slam ma'am on this with life events throwing a wrench in that plan, and also, by living in the moment of the thing and where the hearts of the poets are in it.My main goal, really, is for the poets on my team to feel they did the best job and they did what they wanted everyone to hear.No repeats.No repeats year to year if you can help it.